Ruth Baird

Ruth's distinctive luminescent leaf shapes are a perennial favourite in the gallery, the soft greens or rich golds of niobium and the intense blue of titanium. Her work is inspired by the landscape and the natural world, and her series based on native flora includes Pohutukawa leaves, and Kauri leaves and cone scales. Ruth was a founding member of the Fingers Collective and her decades of experience is apparent. Fabrication is her main construction technique, mounting titanium or niobium in silver - the range of colours of the metals is achieved by anodising, whereby an oxide layer forms and appears as various colours according to minute variations in thickness. This  creates a series of works with variations in the colour and intensity between each piece. 

"I prefer simple techniques using my hands and I try to make my work wearer-friendly and comfortable, as it is intended to be worn by people who are attuned to what I am doing."